


If You Wear That Velvet Dress

by Vicky Ocean (VickyOcean)



Series: Scenes From A Peculiar Affair [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: New Republic Era - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-12 16:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/813881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VickyOcean/pseuds/Vicky%20Ocean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shada celebrates her Lifeday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set about a month or so after A Lady's Choice

"I've got to take a break or my eyes are going to bleed," Aves said, pushing away from the table beside Shada. She knew how he felt. They'd been compiling and cross checking New Republic and Imperial intelligence reports most of the day. "I'm going to make more caf. You want some?"

"Desperately." She leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head trying to work the stiffness out of her back.

Aves went over to the caf machine to start a new pot. "You know, I miss being just a smuggler. There was never this much flimsywork."

Shada smiled. This wasn't quite what she'd expected when she had signed on with Karrde either. She supposed it came with the territory of going legitimate.

"Faughn, Chin and I are going to try that new Corellian place in the city tonight," Aves called over his shoulder as he prepared their caf. "You want to go?"

"I would, but I'm going to that concert with Karrde tonight. Maybe next time." She looked back down at her datapad focusing on the information there. They needed to hurry and get this done if she was going to have enough time to get dressed for the evening.

"That's right. I forgot that was tonight." Aves came over and set a mug of caf in front of her. "Wear the blue velvet dress."

"What?" she asked distractedly.

"Wear the blue velvet dress," he told her again.

She focused on Aves again. "Why?"

"Trust me. Karrde will appreciate it."

Shada gave him a sour look. "Do you two just sit around and gossip about my wardrobe?"

"No, but the boss couldn't take his eyes off of you the last time you wore it."

"You need to mind your own business," she told him tartly and returned back to her work.

Aves just smiled and sat back down beside her nudging her with his shoulder. "Happy Lifeday, by the way."

"Thank you," she said simply, smiling back. She had never really celebrated her lifeday. It was a far too frivolous thing for a Mistryl to do. It would be nice to have a night out for once on her lifeday. It was convenient Karrde had suggested the concert and a night out on the town. Then again knowing Talon Karrde it probably wasn't a coincidence at all. She tossed down her stylus on the table and turned to Aves. "Do you think that's what this whole night out is about? My lifeday?"

He looked surprised she asked. "Of course it is. He's courting you, Shada. It's standard procedure to take your lady out for a romantic evening for her lifeday."

Her frown deepened and she glared at the screen in front of her not really seeing it. "I don't know how to do this."

"Here let me show you." He leaned over to get a look at her datapad.

"No, not that," she sighed. "Doing whatever it is Karrde and I are doing."

"Being in a relationship, you mean?" Aves asked giving it the name she would not.

"Yes. I don't know how to do it." It had been nearly a year since she and Karrde had begun this- thing. It had moved past being an affair to being something so much deeper than that, but she still felt like she was navigating blind. It had been so much easier when it had just been about lust.

"No one does, Shada. Why do you think everyone's so screwed up?" Aves must have seen the look of panic that began to creep over her and continued, "He's- you've both been alone for a long time, Shada. You're good for each other. You're both- I don't know- lighter when you're together." He paused then added with a little smile. "When you think no one's watching that is."

"Hmm." She stared down at her caf. "It's just that I don't have any experience with this sort of thing. Mistryl are forbidden any sort of romantic relationship."

He studied her a moment trying to process that bit of information. "You weren't- I mean you'd had- Karrde wasn't your-" Aves just kind of sputtered to a stop, staring at her mildly aghast.

Shada knew what he was trying to get at. "I wasn't a virgin if that's what you're asking," she assured him.

"Well, good. That would have been weird at your age."

"Gee, thanks, Aves," she said dryly.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I'd had a few casual encounters before," she admitted. "It's just this thing with Karrde is not something I ever expected. Especially not with my employer. I just- I don't know what to I'm supposed to do most of the time and that scares me."

"Relationships scare everyone sometimes," Aves told her reassuringly. "Just go with it and don't think so hard about it. You both deserve to be happy."

* * *

Shada wore the blue velvet gown. She nervously paced the length of her small sitting room as she waited for Karrde. She didn't know why going out for her lifeday should make her so nervous. She and Karrde went to concerts and other events all the time, especially when they were on Coruscant. But this had nothing to do with work or being seen.

Exactly at the appointed hour the door rang.

"Come in," she called.

Karrde entered looking particularly handsome dressed in the suit he had worn to the treaty signing. His cloak was draped over his arm and a box wrapped in sparkling flimsy was in his hand. His eyes took in her appearance at once and she saw the frank admiration on his face. "You look exquisite, my dear." Apparently, Aves had been right about the gown.

"Thank you."

"Happy Lifeday," he said handing her the gift.

"You shouldn't have."

"Don't be silly."

"Thank you." She sat down on the sofa and unwrapped the gift. In her hands was a box from the same jeweler as her black Mon Calamari pearls. She was almost afraid to open it knowing that what she found inside there was sure to be extravagant. Her hand trembled a bit as she lifted the lid. Inside was a fantastic necklace of sapphires set in delicate platinum filigree and matching earrings. Another fortune in a box.

"You can't keep giving me things like this," she said quietly, overwhelmed by how much it must have cost.

"Why ever not?" He sounded genuinely perplexed.

"It's far too expensive."

"You're worth it." He gave her a roguish smile. "What better way is there to spend my ill gotten gains?"

"Talon…" She often forgot that Talon Karrde was a wealthy man. He certainly lived very well, but was generally not one for ostentatious displays. She had gotten used to his habit of giving her little tokens of his affection, things he thought she might like or something she had admired but not bought for herself, but this was way too much.

He sat down next to her. "Shada, my darling," he reached out and took her hand. "It was not my intention to make you uncomfortable. I merely want you to have something beautiful for your lifeday." She raised an eyebrow. This wasn't a mere sparkly trifle. "Besides, it never hurts to have a bit of portable and easily disposed of wealth. Our lives can be rather unpredictable in this line of work."

"Oh, you're _so_ practical," she said sarcastically.

"Shada, you're not a Mistryl anymore," he said with a touch of exasperation in his voice. "What we have is no longer forbidden to you and you don't have to lead that austere lifestyle anymore. You've taken care of your family. You don't need to feel guilty about enjoying life." He lifted her hand and pressed it to his lips. "We can enjoy life together."

"I know. You're right. It's just so- overwhelming." She didn't know if she was talking about the jewels he lavished on her or the emotions swirling through her.

"I know."

She looked down at the necklace, her finger tracing the filigree. "It _is_ beautiful. You do have very good taste."

His eyes focused on her. "Yes, I do."

She laughed and rolled her eyes, breaking the tension. "Put it on for me?" She turned her back to him.

He lifted the necklace out of the box and placed it around her neck, securing the clasp. His hand gently traced the line of her spine revealed by the daringly low back of her gown. "This is my favorite gown," he whispered in her ear. "I love it when you wear it."

She turned her head and met his lips in a long seductive kiss that made her almost want to skip the concert. "Thank you, Talon," she said a little breathlessly.

"You're welcome."

She stood then and went over to the mirror trading out the earrings she had on for the ones that matched the necklace. She stared at herself in the mirror. How different was the woman before her in a fine velvet gown and sparkling jewels than the ragged half starved girl who had dedicated herself to the Mistryl more than 30 years ago today?

That little girl had never imagined a life beyond glorious battle and honor for her people. Now here she was decades later, working in an unexpected way toward peace in the galaxy and was the lover of a powerful but not all together respectable man who was none the less the most honorable person she knew. That single minded little girl would be horrified, but the woman she had become was content with this life.

Karrde came up behind her and settled her cloak around her shoulders, his hands resting on her shoulders. She saw him study her in the reflection of the mirror. "Do you get melancholy on your lifeday, my dear?" There was a slightly amused smile tugging at his lips, but his eyes were full of warm affection.

She smiled back. "I suppose I must."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Overall, Karrde thought the evening he'd planned to celebrate Shada's lifeday had gone very well.

Although he may have made a slight miscalculation with his gift. He couldn't deny that the necklace was perhaps a little too extravagant. When he'd seen it at the jewelers, the deep blue of the sapphires had made him think of the blue velvet gown she was wearing tonight. It was his favorite gown of hers. He could hardly keep his hands to himself when she wore it. He loved the contrast of the soft plush fabric and the warm exposed skin of her back and he would pay dearly to give her a reason to wear it again. He'd also had a slight ulterior motive in buying her the jewels as well. They had been forced to attend more and more political functions lately and she needed more fine jewels to wear besides the black Mon Calamari pearls. He liked to have her as resplendent as possible at those events.

He was very pleased to see that once she got over the shock she truly seemed to like the necklace. He noticed she kept looking at herself in every mirror she passed. He thought it looked wonderful on her. The deep blue of the stones contrasted wonderfully with her ivory skin.

The nervous energy that had surrounded her dissipated and she relaxed considerably once she'd had a glass of wine at dinner. He'd taken her to her favorite restaurant in the city. The food been excellent and the company had been even better for Shada was all smiles.

Karrde had been correct in thinking that she would enjoy a concert of selections from the most famous Harbin-Re operas. She had been entranced from the moment the music had begun and the look of rapture on her face had entranced him. He could hardly look away from her, but she was far too engrossed in watching the performers to notice him at all. He didn't mind, because at the very beginning when she realized how much she was enjoying the music she looked over at him giving him a delighted smile and reached for his hand. She hadn't let it go all through the concert and gripped it tighter when she was particularly moved.

Following the concert Shada had seemed not yet ready to return back to base, so Karrde had suggested they go to a quiet tapcafe for a few drinks and dancing. During their time together, he'd discovered Shada quite liked dancing and he quite liked any reason to have her in his arms.

They moved slowly across the dance floor as he held Shada close to him. One hand pressed to the warm flesh of her back exposed by the low draped back of her dress. The other clasped her hand over his heart. Her cheek was pressed to his and he was intoxicated by the scent of her perfume. He felt her sigh then say quietly, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not being very good at all this."

"Don't be silly. You dance divinely. You haven't stepped on my toes once," he said lightly.

"That's not what I meant." He had known that of course, but he had been feeling so content that he almost didn't want to disrupt that. "A romantic relationship is the one situation the Mistryl never prepared me for. I feel like some ignorant green girl all the time."

"Well, romantic relationships, as you say, aren't exactly something I've ever had as excessive amount of experience with either." He'd never really had the time or desire for such entanglements before. "We'll figure it out together." Icy dread filled his heart at the thought that they wouldn't. He was disturbed by the fact that he had never wanted anything to work so badly in his life. "We're not conventional people, Shada. There's no reason that this situation should be any different."

"I suppose." She sighed releasing the tension from her body. She pulled back from him and gave him a dazzling smile. "This has been a beautiful night. Thank you so much."

He couldn't help but smile back. "Anytime." She was such a strong person, but she was also fragile in her own way. She'd had such a hard life. He would never admit it to her, because she would probably injure him severely, but he desperately wanted to take care of her and make sure those periods of blackness that occasionally over took her never returned. He wanted to show her the marvels of the galaxy that the Mistryl had no time for. He wanted to give her beautiful things that she never imagined during her hardscrabble existence on Emberlene. He wanted to her to enjoy life as much as he did.

She slid her hand from his shoulder to his cheek and then leaned in kissing him softly. "Let's go home."

It made him very happy to hear her call the base 'home'.

* * *

Shada awoke with a start, looking about unsure of what had awoken her. The room was dark, but she knew where she was. She was lying in Karrde's bed, although she couldn't quite recall how she got there. She was wearing one of his soft silk shirts and still had on her sapphire necklace. He was asleep beside her. She vaguely recalled running into Aves, Chin, and Faughn as she and Karrde were leaving the tapcafe, but that was all.

Her head was aching and she felt like she was dying of thirst. There was a glass of water on the nightstand and she reached for it.

"Shada, are you alright?" Karrde asked, his voice rough with sleep.

"I think I drank too much last night." That was the only explanation.

Karrde chuckled and pushed himself into a sitting position turning the lamp on low. "How do you feel?"

"Thirsty and a headache." She drank the rest of the water down.

Karrde got up and took the glass from her. Shada lay back against the pillows. She mentally replayed the last hour or so of the night. She could remember Aves had offered to buy her a drink for her lifeday so they had stayed, but it hadn't just been one drink. Aves, Faughn, and Chin had kept handing them to her and she had kept drinking them. Everything else was blurry.

"Why did you let me drink so much?" she called after Karrde.

"Me? Tell Shada D'ukal what to do? I'm not brave enough," Karrde said looking very amused as he came back in with another glass of water and an analgesic pill.

That made her wonder exactly what she'd done. "Did I do anything foolish?" she asked after she swallowed the pill down.

Karrde laughed and got back in bed. "No, you just fell asleep against my shoulder and I took you home."

Shada thought back. She had a fuzzy recollection of Karrde helping her undress and then giving her a shirt to sleep in. She hadn't wanted to take her new necklace off. She glanced over at him. His eyes were sleepy, but he wore a bemused smile. "I'm sorry your romantic evening didn't end quite the way you planned," she told him.

He looked even more amused at that. "Haven't you learned yet that I just like having you beside me?" He reached out and pulled her across the bed to him. She looked down at him. Still after all this time with him, she could not completely puzzle him out. She imagined any other man who had gone to such obvious and expensive effort to romance a woman, he would have been at least a little put out that she had gotten drunk and fallen asleep on him. "As long as you had a good time, I'm happy," he told her. "Besides, getting drunk on your lifeday is what you're supposed to do."

"I did have a very good time." She lay down and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. "It's the first time I've ever celebrated my lifeday. We didn't exactly celebrate births on Emberlene." She must be still drunk if she was telling him this. "A new life just meant another mouth to try to feed. Most people couldn't afford meds for illness or injury, let alone for birth control, so children were still born even if they weren't wanted." His arms tightened around her and she felt him press a kiss to her hair. "I've never thought much about it other than to mark myself another year older. Another year I survived against the odds." She pushed herself up on her elbow and traced the contures of his face. "Thank you for making me feel wanted on my lifeday."

"I will always want you, my darling."

Shada relaxed back against him and closed her eyes. She felt his breath even out with sleep, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep herself. She was hungry.

"Talon?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know what would really show me you want me?" she asked tracing patterns on his bare chest.

"What's that?" he asked sounding a little more awake. He ran a suggestive hand under her shirt caressing her bare skin.

"A bowl of prunchti noodles."

His wandering hand stilled on her hip. "Now?"

"If it's not too much trouble." She was definitely still drunk. "There should be some leftovers in the commissary kitchen."

"What? You need something startchy to soak up all that booze?" he said sounding a little grumpy.

"I'm hungry," she said trying to sound as pitiful as possible.

"Alright." Karrde pulled away from her and sat up with a groan. "You're lucky it's your lifeday."

"Why?"

"Otherwise, I don't go traipsing across the base for prunchti noodles in the small hours of the morning for drunk women." He flung his cloak over his shoulders and slid his feet in his slippers.

He really did look quite absurd in nothing but sleep pants and a very elegant cloak. She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "You're a good man, Talon Karrde," she called after him.

He paused in the doorway and turned back to her, saying with a great deal more affection than irritation, "I believe the proper term is sucker."

The End


End file.
